


Barefoot on the Blazing Concrete

by goddess_julie



Series: Layla Verse [4]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Domestic, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 02:14:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15596004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddess_julie/pseuds/goddess_julie
Summary: Zayn smiles at the new receptionist as he signs into the log book.  It’s standard practice and he waits for her to process him in.  When her fingers move slowly across the keys Zayn’s patience runs thin with each passing minute.  She looks up at him and then the computer in front of him, her lips turning down into a frown.“I’m sorry Mr. Malik, who do you claim you are here for?”  Her face is pinched and she stares hard at Zayn as her voice drips with distaste..“My daughter, Layla Payne.”The woman’s eyebrows knit together and she gives him a dubious look.  “Daughter?”or Zayn tries to pick Layla up from school and is met with accusations that he hadn't been prepared for.  Security is called and Zayn is reminded of the still present prejudices of ignorant people.





	Barefoot on the Blazing Concrete

**Author's Note:**

> I've been playing with this idea of a fic for ages and finally got down to writing it. I love the relationship between Layla and Zayn! It's been far too long since I've visited this verse and hope that there will be more coming soon! Thank you for sticking through my writer's block, for still loving my fic and showing me love which makes me want to write more for you all!! All mistakes are my own.

It’s the sound of Taylor Swift way too early in the morning that has Liam’s eyes fluttering open. With a groan, he pushes Zayn’s arm from where it is slung low on his waist to the space between them and he rolls over so that he can press his face into his pillow. Liam would scream into the feathery softness of it but he’s too tired to even muster up the strength to do that.

“…you know we got ba-ad blood, you know it used to be mad love…”

“Fucking Harry,” Liam growls as he pushes himself up and around so that he is sitting. He knew letting Layla spend too much time with Harry after school had been a bad idea, just couldn’t fathom the degree to which he would regret it later. As though his daughter knows he’s awake, her voice gets louder and closer than it was before.

“…did you have to do this? I was thinking that you could be trusted…”

At least she’d moved from looping We Are Never Getting Back Together over and over again. Looking over at Zayn, Liam can’t help but smile fondly at how the other man could sleep through anything and everything. With the first crash that he hears from the kitchen Liam jumps up and slips a pair of trackies up and over his hips, forgoing a pair of pants since he knows he still needs to shower. When he reaches the bottom of the stairs he starts when he sees one of Zayn’s bags laying haphazardly on the floor, spray paint cans scattered everywhere. One glance into the kitchen lets Liam know that Layla is sitting at the breakfast bar with her nose in a book as she slowly brings a spoonful of cereal to her mouth.

“Lays? What’s this mess?” Liam is certain that is what he heard and waits to see why Layla hadn’t picked the cans up.

“THAT mess,” Layla says with all the haughtiness that a nine year old can muster at, Liam winces when he sees it’s half seven, “is Baba’s. I don’t know how many times he’s been told to put his things away. His shoes were in the middle of the floor and I tripped on them. And then I tripped on his paint bag.”

Liam tries to hide his amused smile as her eyes flicker up from her book to where he is watching her. “And?”

“And he’s not going to learn if I clean up after him all of the time. Is he daddy?”

Liam can’t argue. “No babe, he’s not.”

“So, when he wakes up he can see that he very nearly killed me and clean up his mess.”

Louis has also been added to the list of people Liam needs to limit Layla’s interactions with seeing that she is definitely channeling the older man at the moment.

“Were you watching where you were going when you came down the stairs?” Liam asks as he starts the coffee machine. With a grin he watches his daughter sit up straight on her stool, her face is now a pinched expression of annoyance.

“THAT is not the issue here.”

Liam doesn’t even try to hide his laughter. “Please babe, tell me what exactly the issue is here. I’m curious.”

“Oh babe,” Layla says with a shake of her head and a roll of her eyes. “The issue is that he left his shoes out and his paint bag out in the middle of the floor. What if it had been you? You’re so clumsy when you come down in the morning. Your eyes haven’t even proper opened most days. It’s a good thing I tripped first, you may have hurt yourself on the fall if…”

“Don’t even finish that sentence young lady,” Liam teases as he tugs on her hair playfully. They’re both giggling when they hear a door close upstairs, alerting that the man in question has woken up. Father and daughter are quiet, watching each other and giggling as they listen to Zayn stumble down the stairs.

“Hey, who was messing with my stuff?” Zayn enters the kitchen with a spray paint can in both hands, an expression of confusion on his face.

Layla exchanges a look with Liam who nods, encouraging her to go ahead.

“Baba, we need to have a chat.”

Liam snickers as the confusion on Zayn’s face grows. She has both sets of eyes on her and Liam watches proudly as she preens under the attention.

“Babe, I’m going to be honest with you, come sit down.”

“Umm, thanks?” Zayn says with a chuckle. He looks at Liam who is only staring at him with a pitying look on his face. When he’s sitting on the stool next to Layla, Zayn is surprised when she lays a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“You’re a mess babe. A right mess.” When Liam bursts into laugher Layla snaps her head to look at her Daddy, her eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Daddy, it’s not nice to rub it in. Do you have something you have to do?”

“Uhhh,” Liam is honestly a little afraid of his daughter at the moment. And judging from the alarm in Zayn’s eyes, he’s not the only one.

“Great, go do that then. This is between Baba and me. Unless you want to clean his mess?”

“No babe, I’ll go upstairs and take a shower.”

“Good.” Layla nods her head sharply and focuses her attention back to Zayn who is watching her in awe. “Now, we can’t just leave our things laying around Baba. It’s not safe. I tripped on your shoes that you left in the middle of the floor and then I tripped on your bag. What if that had have been Daddy? He’s not young anymore. He could have hurt himself. You have to think about these things babe. Maybe I shouldn’t have been reading and walking at the same time, but that is not the point.”

“Lays?” Zayn asks timidly, pulling her hand into his and threading their fingers together. “What is the point?”

Layla groans and wipes her forehead with her free hand. Zayn watches fascinated with just how similar she is to Liam when he’s trying to explain something but doesn’t want to lose his patience when it’s not getting through. “What is it with you and Daddy needing to be told the point? The point is please take care of your shoes and paints. Don’t leave them lying around. Please go pick them up and put them away.”

“Yes babe,” Zayn says seriously. He’s worried that if he says the wrong thing, he’ll be in for another lecture. He needs to talk to Liam about how much time she’s spending with Louis and Harry and how they’re rubbing off on her.

As Zayn gets up to start cleaning the spray cans he stops when Layla calls out to him.

“Yes Lays?”

“I love you Baba.”

He places the cans back onto the counter and walks over to pull her into his arms as he kisses her throat like he always has. By the time they’re done play wresting and giggling Zayn heads back into the foyer to clean the cans and set them carefully into the hall closet where he’d meant to put them the night before. He looks up to see Layla watching, an approving smile crossing her lips.

*~*~*~*~

It was just after their five year anniversary together that Zayn had finally convinced Liam to get married. While Liam said yes when Zayn asked, it was the act of settling on a date and actually going through with the whole wedding part of things. They have two anniversaries that they celebrate, their wedding anniversary, which will be their third this year, and their anniversary for getting together.

It’s been eight years since that day in Niall’s diner where Liam and Layla met him for brunch and decided to give their relationship a chance. Layla will be turning ten at the end of the summer and Liam can’t believe that he is going to have a ten year old daughter let alone have been with the love of his life for eight years. This is why he had planned a huge romantic weekend away for himself and Zayn. To celebrate their love. To celebrate eight years together despite the good the bad and the ugly. And while he’s never been happier, never thought he could ever BE this happy, he can admit it hasn’t been without it’s ups and downs. But for Zayn to step into an already made family and play father to a child that wasn’t his is more than he could have asked for. Never once has Zayn made Layla out to be less than his daughter, and Liam will love him until the end of time for that alone.

Fridays have always been Lays and Zee time. Zayn would often pick her up from school, waiting out front for her as her teacher Ms Ellie waved at Zayn when she recognized him and let her run through the yard to where her Baba was waiting to take her for kebabs and to his art studio. Layla even had her own space in the back next to Zayn’s where she could paint, draw or do anything she wanted to do while they were there. The deal had been that she could paint and ‘do art’ like Zee if she took care of her space like artists have to.

Never once had she balked about having to clean her brushes, air out her canvases and leave the studio in the same condition she found it.

Zayn is cursing as he honks his horn at the car ahead of him in the queue. He’s late, much later than he’d told Layla’s teacher he would be, and while he knows it’s fine, that they will just keep her in the office until he gets there, he hates that he’s late. Eleanor had assured Zayn it would be fine. She’s texted Zayn to let him know that she has a meeting with one of the other parents and Layla is currently in the library reading.

He’s only half an hour late when he pulls up into the parking lot and jogs into the office. Zayn smiles at the new receptionist as he signs into the log book. It’s standard practice and he waits for her to process him in. When her fingers move slowly across the keys Zayn’s patience runs thin with each passing minute. She looks up at him and then the computer in front of him, her lips turning down into a frown.

“I’m sorry Mr. Malik, who do you claim you are here for?” Her face is pinched and she stares hard at Zayn as her voice drips with distaste..

“My daughter, Layla Payne.”

The woman’s eyebrows knit together and she gives him a dubious look. “Daughter?”

Zayn nods as he looks towards the door, distracted. “Daughter. Eleanor… Ms. Calder, told me that before she had her meeting, she’d taken Layla to the library. Can I just nip down and grab her? I know my way around…”

“Excuse me?” The woman snaps. “You will not be nipping down to GRAB anyone SIR.” She stands up as though preparing for a fight. “In fact, I think that maybe you should just leave.”

Zayn can see the computer screen at the angle he is at and Layla’s smiling face is looking back at him from her student id photo. Liam is so prominent in her smile, in the crinkle of her eyes that he feels his frustration ebb just a little. “Fine. Then you go and get Layla and I’ll wait here. I just, I was supposed to be here over half an hour ago and she’s probably getting worried.” When she doesn’t make a move to leave, Zayn looks directly at her and is shocked to see the anger in her eyes. “What is the problem?”

“The problem, Mr. Malik,” the woman sneers as she spits out his name, “is that you come in here telling me you’re Ms. Payne’s father but you are definitely not Mr. Liam Payne. And there is no possible way that she is your daughter.”

“No, I’m Zayn Malik,” he’s short with her, fighting not to confront her about what she’s really saying. He doesn’t want to turn this into something when it could just be a misunderstanding. Clearly, getting angry with this woman is not going to help him get to Layla any faster. “I’m her other father, Liam is my husband.”

The woman huffs out a sarcastic laugh as she rolls her eyes. “Right. I don’t think so. I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Sir. Before I call security and the police.” She spits out the ‘sir’ as condescending as she can. Zayn sees red, his fists clenching at his sides.

“Not without MY DAUGHTER. I’ll go get her with or without your help. Don’t test me.”

“If you were indeed her father like you claim, then you would be on her approved list of names for pick up. You sir, are not. And don’t threaten me.”

Zayn wants to scream. Of course he is on there. He has to be, he knows she didn’t look past Layla’s complexion and his own to even check the list. Zayn has always gone to get her from school, dropped her off in the morning. From the day she’d started reception he had been an active part of her education. Liam and he had poured over options of where to send Layla to school, what the level of education they wanted for her. Both he and Liam had gone in for the school tour, getting the background on their level of excellence, signed the contract for her annual tuition to the exclusive school. Zayn hated that this woman was making him question everything, trying to rationalize his presence there when he knows that his name is on her file.

“I'll fix this,” Zayn threatens and pulls out his phone. He shoots off a text to Eleanor to see if she’s still around and if she could help him by coming to the office. As he looks up, he sees the woman at the desk on the phone herself.

“I’m sorry to bother you Mr. Payne. I don’t want to alert you but we are having an issue at the school. No, Layla is okay but there is a gentleman here threatening to kidnap her. He is irrational and says he is going to take her. Please come down as soon as possible.” Before Zayn can speak, the woman has hung up the phone and is glaring at him while she dials a few more numbers.

“He’s got a very important meeting this afternoon,” Zayn groans. He’s so angry that he’s balling his hands up and focusing not to smash it through the desk in front of him. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“My problem, Mr. Malik is you coming into this school and thinking you can just make off with someone else’s child. And don’t use that type of language with me.”

“Do you think that if I was going to kidnap a child, I wouldn’t have already done it? That I wouldn’t have just gone and taken her myself without stopping here? Without hurting you? All I want is to pick up my daughter.”

At that moment two security guards enter the office and Zayn throws his hands up in the air.

‘FUCK!”

“Calm down Mr. Malik,” the woman barks. “This man has threatened me and a student at this school.”

“I’m here for Layla Payne,” Zayn fought to keep his voice calm. “My DAUGHTER!”

“Please keep an eye on this criminal,” the secretary says haughtily. I need to call Mr. Cowell and alert him that I’m phoning the police.

With every word that is said, Zayn’s blood boils that much hotter. Its minutes wasted where Layla doesn’t know where he is, probably thinks that he’d abandoned her. Every time he moves to speak, Security steps in and keeps him at bay, brandishing their nightsticks and glaring at him with menacing eyes.

What feels like forever later he can hear Layla’s voice coming down the hall. It is accompanied by the sound of high heels clacking on the linoleum. The only thing that is making Zayn refrain from screaming was how happy Layla sounds, how she has no idea what was going on in the office. He tries to calm his nerves, takes a few deep breaths and focuses on Layla’s voice that he can hear through the door. Seconds later the door opens and Layla stops talking in mid sentence.

“…but Ms. Ellie… WHY is Baba so late? It’s nearly six, he’s never this la…”

That’s when she sees Zayn and gives a high pitched excited squeal. “BABA!”

Before anyone can move Layla runs across the room and throws herself into Zayn’s arms, hugging him so tight that he can feel her body shaking from it.

“Hey babe,” Zayn says. He hopes that she doesn’t realize how much he’s shaking, how his eyes are watering with frustration. Zayn looks up at Eleanor who is staring between the receptionist and security who look ready to pounce at any moment.

“Why were you so late, Baba?” It’s almost 6 o’clock.”

“Layla Payne,” Eleanor scolds playfully. “You know how to tell time, so you know it’s just gone four.”

“Feels like it SHOULD be six,” Layla argues with an impatient sigh. “He took so long today.” Layla leans in again and hugs Zayn, kissing his jaw as she presses her face in his throat. Its when she pulls back and sees the expression on his face that she pauses. “Are you okay Baba? You look upset? Are you hurt? Is Daddy hurt? Is that why you were so late?”

“No babe, no one is hurt,” Zayn smooths back her hair and presses a kiss to her forehead. He boops her nose which he knows will make her giggle.

“Baba, I’m too old for nose boops,” Layla complains with a blush.

“What is going on here?” Eleanor asks. The tension in the room is palpable and she sees the secretary and two security guards staring at Zayn as though they’re about to pounce on him at any moment. Zayn is kneeling down at Layla’s height obviously trying to distract her from whatever has been happening.

Before anyone can answer, the door to the office crashes open and Liam comes flying in, looking frantic. “Zee, why the fuck didn’t you answer your phone? Where have you been?” He looks around at the scene around him and the moment his eyes focus on Layla, Liam drops to his knees and pulls her in close. “Lays, babe. You’re okay?”

“I’m fine Daddy, I thought you had a super important meeting today? And you said a bad word, you owe me five quid.”

Zayn is too mad to comment, glaring at the stunned expression on the woman’s face who has just ended the call with the police to arrest him. It’s Liam that responds.

“Five quid? What happened to one?” He is touching his daughter’s face, thankful that she is present in front of him and that nothing has happened. He leans in to kiss her cheek and inhale her scent as he tries to calm his breathing and his racing heart.

“Inflation dad. Lou-bear says I need to negotiate better wages from you. Child slavery is wrong and I can’t let the man win. And dad, you’re the man.”

Liam’s hands are still trembling as he stands up and chuckles. “Of course your Uncle Lou told you that! Proper menace he is.” Their eyes meet and Zayn offers a slight shake of his head.

“Why are you here daddy?” Layla asks again. “It’s Friday, Baba’s day.” She’s curled into the space at Zayn’s side, hands wrapped firmly around his waist. ‘And Baba, why were you so late?”

“Why ARE you here Liam?” Eleanor asks. “Zayn always picks Layla up on Fridays.” She turns to Zayn who is staring at the floor. “And why are you STILL here? What is going on? What was that text about?”

“Not in front of Lays,” Zayn’s voice is low, full of anger.

“Babe,” Liam says gently. Would you like to maybe wait out in the hall for a moment?”

“No thank you Daddy.”

“Layla.”

With a sigh Layla rolls her eyes and nods. “Fine. Whatever. I have some math homework I’ll work on. And don’t forget, five quid!”

As she exits the room Eleanor watches with a fond smile and turns to Liam and Zayn. “You really do need to stop letting her spend so much time with Lou.”

“Tell me about it,” Liam chuckles. “Harry’s no better though.” He’s taken his daughter’s place at Zayn’s side, running his hand up and down his back comfortingly. It’s clear that Zayn is teetering on the edge of a full blown blow up and Liam wants to avoid that. It’s not a way he wants to start their weekend.

“So why am I here?” Liam asks the woman behind the desk when no one seems to speak up. “I don’t understand why I received a phone call indicating that there was someone here attempting to kidnap my daughter when my husband is right here. Did this happen before he got here? After? Did you call the police on the man?”

The woman moves to open her mouth and closes it, averting her eyes. Her refusal to speak only further enrages Zayn.

“I’m the man attempting to kidnap YOUR daughter.”

Zayn’s voice is so low that Liam almost doesn’t hear him. Eleanor gasps and her head snaps to look at the blonde woman who doesn’t even look embarrassed. Much.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite…” Liam leans in. He looks at Eleanor who has a hand covering her mouth and the security guards who are suddenly fascinated with something outside the window. Their night sticks have conveniently found their way back into the holsters at the men’s sides.

“She thinks that because I’m not white. Because I’m Pakistani…” the woman makes a move to speak when Zayn gives a low sarcastic laugh. “Please, don’t patronize me. That’s what it boiled down to.”

“Your name isn’t on the approved list.”

“Impossible,” Liam bellows. “His name is all over that file. I wrote it myself when we signed her up for reception. HE co-signed the contract for her admissions to this school.”

“You didn’t even read the file,” Zayn accuses calmly. “I watched you, you looked at my face and you looked at her picture. You didn’t look at the computer long enough to scan the list.”

Primly, the woman turns the screen around. “Here is the list. Your name isn’t on it.”

All three lean in to look. It’s Eleanor who speaks first, her voice icy cold.

“If you go by that list, Liam isn’t able to pick up their daughter either.”

“Mr. Payne is her father. Primary guardian, Mr. Liam James Payne.”

“And right next to it,” Liam growls as he punches the desk. “Zayn Javaad Malik, also Primary Guardian.”

They watch the woman’s eyes widen for a moment. She turns the screen back to it’s rightful position and they watch her face drain of all colour before it fills to a vibrant scarlet red.

Zayn has had enough. He turns to Liam and stares deep into his eyes. “We’ll leave in the morning.”

Liam nods. “Don’t rush tonight, you need this right now as much as she does. Maybe more.”

For a moment, Zayn wants to argue. Wants to scream and break something. Instead, he focuses on the way Liam is gripping his wrists tight, anchoring him. When Zayn finally lets the pent up anger flow through his body he lets Liam pull him in close.

“Go and spend time with our daughter.”

“Your daughter,” Zayn says as he blinks back tears of anger that are still threatening to fall.

Liam growls and pulls Zayn close as he kisses him roughly. “Don’t fucking start that with me Jaan. I will deal with this, do not let this …woman ...” Liam hisses in the woman’s direction, biting his tongue on what he would rather say, “…ruin today or your relationship with your daughter.” When Zayn moves to speak, Liam shakes his head. “Jaan,” he says again, knowing what the name will do to his husband. As expected, Liam watches some of the fight leave Zayn and he schools his expression to ensure that Layla isn’t aware of what she almost just witnessed.

As Zayn opens the door to exit the office, he sees the school’s principal speaking with Layla on the floor where the younger girl is doing her maths. Looking up, Mr. Cowell’s smile falls from his face when he sees the expression on Zayn’s. Before his daughter can see what is bothering him, Zayn schools his expression and pastes a smile across his mouth.

“I heard someone wanted to go do some art? Maybe even have some curry tonight as a treat?” Zayn focuses on the girl looking at him in awe, like she has been waiting all week for this night. And Zayn knows how she feels because their Friday nights are what helps him get through the week. He’s packaged his anger and stored it in the deepest part of himself so that it won’t affect this precious, innocent girl. He lets the overwhelming love and adoration for Layla shine through and when she jumps up and cheers, he feels the last remains of stress dissipate.

“Mr. Cowell,” Liam says tightly, can I please have a moment of your time?”

“Bye Daddy. Baba and I will see you later,” Layla calls as she tugs Zayn down the hall towards the school’s exit.

***

The main reason that when they married Liam didn’t take Zayn’s last name was because of Layla. Her last name on her birth certificate and all of her official paperwork was Payne, so they didn’t want any confusion when Liam’s last name was something different.

Zayn wouldn’t take Liam’s last name for the sole reason that he refused to have his name be Zayn Payne.

Liam has never in his life been so angry at how ignorant people are and how much damage that one person’s biases can do. He’s glad that he waited for Zayn to leave with Layla before he started speaking to Mr. Cowell. He is certain she would have heard every word he’d said and the last thing she needed was to bear witness to this side of her Daddy.

At the end of their meeting, Eleanor gently pulled Liam down to her classroom so she could collect her belongings. It was a silent trek, neither speaking until they reached Liam’s car.

“I’ve called Niall, you’re coming round his for dinner tonight. No arguments.”

Liam moved to do just that when the other woman shook her head.

“Liam Payne, do not make me call him and Louis. You know I will and if Niall doesn’t guilt you into it, Louis will bully you into coming.”

“You’re a teacher,” Liam whined, feeling drained. All he wanted to do was go home, drink a bottle of wine and wait for Zayn and Layla to come home. “You’re supposed to be against bullying.”

“Do not test me Payno.”

Liam climbed into his car and smiled as Eleanor did the same in her own car. He could say no to Eleanor, Louis and Niall were another story. He had to just accept the fact that he was going to Niall’s for dinner and see it for what it was, a chance to destress after the whirlwind of an afternoon he’d experienced. Being alone would just cause him to focus and dwell on it even more and that was the last thing Liam needed tonight.

Dinner had been relaxing, just what Liam needed to take his mind off of the afternoon. Niall and Eleanor had met a few years earlier when Eamon was in Eleanor’s class and while neither had been looking for a relationship at the time, the more they spoke, the closer they became. It wasn’t until Eamon had moved up a year that Niall had plucked up the courage to ask Eleanor out properly and if Louis and Harry, who were always cackling and gossiping were right, wedding bells were in their near future.

It’s not until Liam is laid out on the couch, a beer in one hand and the football scores from earlier that afternoon playing on the TV that he hears from Zayn.

“On our way home, need anything?”

“Just my fit husband and our daughter.”

Liam laughs at the face that he’s sure Zayn is probably pulling at his text.

“I meant food you donut. Are you hungry? Haz said you’d been at Nialler’s for dinner. Figure he put a big spread on but just wanted to make sure.”  
M’good. Just need you babe.”

“Be home in a mo.”

When the door opens Liam grins at the happy smiles on both Layla and Zayn’s faces. He’d been slightly worried all night that the witch at Layla’s school had have haunted Zayn the whole night and they would come home with Layla upset and Zayn frustrated from stewing all night about it. If Liam didn’t know better, he would have thought that it was a normal Friday night. To say Liam had been concerned that their weekend away would be cancelled would have been an understatement. Originally, they were going to leave once Zayn and Layla came home from their Friday night date. They would drive Layla over to Harry and Louis’ house for her weekend with her uncles and then would head up to the B and B they had rented for the weekend. Now they were going to spend Friday night together, they would drop Layla off in the morning before breakfast and take an extra day on Monday, to be home in time to pick her up from school.  
Liam was already anxious about that, to be quite honest.

The remainder of the night was like any other Friday that they shared once Zayn and Layla arrived home. The three of them were curled up on the couch, watching  
whatever movie Layla picked out until she’d fallen asleep and was put to bed by Liam or Zayn, whoever she’d fallen asleep on that night.

Even though she’d fallen asleep on Liam, he knew that Zayn wanted to put her to bed. He knew by the way Zayn hadn’t taken his hands off of her at all, always playing with her hair, curling it around his fingers, or running his finger tips up and down her feet which were resting on his lap. Zayn hadn’t let her out of his reach all night and Liam silently cursed the insecurity that woman’s bigotry and racism elicited in his husband.

“Babe, can you maybe put her to bed?” Liam asks softly so that he doesn’t wake his daughter. “I’m going to get us some wine.” Before Zayn can even speak Liam fixes him with a glare. “Don’t.”

Zayn rolls his eyes and gives him a sarcastic smile. “Do you want to let go of her? Shall I carry you up with her?”

Liam remembers that he has his arm around her waist so that she doesn’t fall off of the couch and he blushes. “Sod off,” he grumbles as Zayn seamlessly pulls Layla off of Liam and carries her up the stairs to her bedroom.

Zayn makes sure that Layla has her bear in her arms and her Batman night light, always amazed at how long that thing has lasted, is on. He presses his lips to her forehead. “Good night, princess. Baba loves you.”

Layla snuffles in her sleep and Zayn feels a rush of love for her. Once he’s certain she’s fallen back into a deep sleep, he slips out of her bedroom, making sure that the door is open just how much she likes it to be.

Liam is waiting for him on the couch, two glasses of wine poured and a soft smile on his face as he waits. Zayn finally lets that last bit of frustration, rage bubble up and evaporate. He is still angry about what happened, but he’s not going to let it affect his time with the ones he loves. He is certain that Liam dealt with the issue at Layla’s school and now Zayn wants to know how it went down, what Liam said and what resolution they came to.

Zayn is more than capable of fighting his own battles, but knows that in this situation Liam’s wrath would be much more effective in that he is able to focus his rage and anger into something productive. The mood that Zayn had been in, he would have been mean, spiteful and not at all beneficial to their argument.

It is when they are curled up together on the couch, Zayn resting against Liam’s chest and their hands entwined at his stomach, that they begin to talk.

“She’s been fired,” Liam finally says.

Zayn is shocked but not at the same time. He wouldn’t put it past Liam to demand she face appropriate punishment, his loved ones’ involved in the altercation making it that much more important to him. But he didn’t think it would actually happen, and not that fast. At best, he thought that any future visits to the School Office would be awkward and resentful.

Liam isn’t sure what to make of Zayn’s silence. He’s felt the other man tense up, but hasn’t spoken. And his breathing is shallow.

“Zee?”

“I … didn’t expect that.”

Liam looks down and sees how pale Zayn has gotten. It’s been a while since they’ve had any outward signs of racism and none as devastating as earlier that day.

Liam had genuinely believed someone was trying to kidnap Layla, and on top of that not being able to contact Zayn, Liam was downright hysterical. He’d phoned Louis while in the car, speaking to him on Bluetooth to try and calm him down so he could drive and focus rationally on what he might find when he arrived and Layla’s school.

The last thing Liam had expected was to find Zayn in the office being accused of trying to kidnap Layla and whatever else the secretary was insinuating based on Zayn’s culture.

“I won’t lie, I was definitely going to push for it. She shouldn’t be in any educational system, let alone one that our daughter is in. That woman clearly let her prejudices override common sense, as in check the fucking file before deciding someone’s a god damn…”

Zayn tightens his hold on Liam’s hands, trying to calm him down. He can feel how Liam is getting himself worked up again. “It’s okay babe.”

“Right,” Liam takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. “Well I had Cowell come into the office, security and El were still there with that devil woman. I explained to him what had happened and asked what he was going to do about it.”

“What did he say?”

Liam shakes his head and a soft smile crosses his lips. “He just gave her that straight face.” He tries to mimic it and feels Zayn shiver.

“Oh I know that one.”

“Well he looked at her and asked “is that true Ms. Sheppard? She was all “well, not really…”

Zayn starts to sputter when Liam presses his stomach to quiet him.

“So Cowells all, so this is a mistake? You didn’t see Mr. Malik’s Pakistani complexion? You didn’t look Miss Payne up on your computer and see a while girl with light hair and then see Mr. Malik and assume immediately that he was here to kidnap her? And she was all Well, and he was all did he not tell you he was her father. He didn’t mention it once so you could look further into her file to see his name as one of her primary guardians?”

Zayn can’t help but chuckle as Liam tries to imitate everyone’s voices. He knows this is serious, but he also knows he needs to approach it with a level head and the casual way in which they were discussing it allowed him that.

Liam continues with his story, explaining how Mr. Cowell interrogated Ms. Sheppard as though she was misunderstood and not in trouble until finally he stopped the conversation entirely. It was then that he informed her that he did not tolerate any type of racism, homophobia or any other prejudices she may be hiding and she could gladly see herself out with her two chaperones. This was not the type of reputation he prided his school on and profusely apologized to Liam for the trouble hat she had caused.

“He asked me to apologize to you too,” Liam says with a kiss to Zayn’s temple.

“Is that the apology?” Zayn asks with a laugh. “Because I think Cowell’s crossing a line.” He bursts into giggles when Liam snorts and pushes him away.

“No, you donut. That’s from me.”

They lay together in silence, breathing regulated until finally Zayn spoke. “I was already so worried because I’d been running late. And then all I wanted was to pick her up and that bitch was so horrible. Told me to get out. Told me she would call the police. Called security and accused me of trying to kidnap her.” Liam knows all of this, and Zayn knows he knows but still he needs to get it out of his head. The worries of how much worse things could have gone. The helplessness. ‘And she just wouldn’t listen.”

“I know love.”

“And she kept saying Payne. Layla Payne. Liam Payne. You’re not a Payne. You’re not white.”

“I know,” Liam tries making soothing movements on Zayn’s arm, pressing kisses to his husband’s throat and side of his face.  
“I’m your husband, but it didn’t matter.”

“I think that if you’d like, you should adopt Layla. Officially like. And we’ll change our last name to Malik-Payne.”

They’d briefly discussed hyphenating their names and now Liam doesn’t know why they didn’t go forward with it. He’s always felt that even though they are married, each having their own last names was only giving them half of the married life. He would never be more proud to be a Malik, but more importantly wanted to see Zayn with his last name. He wanted his daughter to share the last names of both of her fathers, both of the men who have raised her and are continuing to raise her.

“W..what?” Zayn pulls out of Liam’s embrace and sits up. He moves so that he is now facing Liam who sits up and grabs Zayn’s hands in his.

“Listen to me, babe.” Liam pauses to make sure that Zayn is listening. “That woman is garbage, forget about her. Cowell realized that and fired her. But why shouldn’t we both have our last names? Why shouldn’t Layla have the last names of her two fathers? Why shouldn’t you be recognized legally as her father?” With steady hands, Liam wipes the tears from Zayn’s cheeks.

“You, you want that?” Zayn asks softly. He can feel his hands trembling as he wraps his arms around Liam’s waist.

“I’ve always wanted that,” Liam admits with a smile.

“Do you think Layla wants that?” Zayn blushes when Liam booms with laughter.

“She worships you, Zee. If you asked her if she wants to be adopted by you, if you’ll be her Baba proper she’ll probably say she already thought she was.”

“She is,” Zayn admits. “Just not being able to pick her up, not being able to get to her. THAT was what I was so upset about.”  
Liam nods. “I could see the fear in your eyes when I walked into the office. At first I thought she HAD been kidnapped, you were that worried, that frantic.”

“Oh babe,” Zayn lets Liam pull him back down and they are once again curled up on the couch, this time facing each other.

They discuss seeing a lawyer to make their name changes official, about starting the process for Zayn to adopt Layla. They talk about what time they want to leave in the morning and how much they’re both looking forward to time alone but at the same time question if they shouldn’t bring Layla with them. Neither like being away from her for too long, especially after something so emotionally trying. It is nearly midnight when they hear sniffling on the stairs.

Both Zayn and Liam shoot up off of the couch in an instant. “Layla, what’s the matter babe?”

Once they’ve acknowledged her, Layla breaks out of her trance and bursts into loud sobs. She runs across the family room and throws herself on the couch between them.

“I had a nightmare,” she wails as she trembles violently. When she was younger, Layla was prone to nightmares. Almost anything could set it off, but Liam had realized early on that when she went to bed upset or anxious about something, that was the most common trigger for her to have one. Especially this bad.

“Can you tell us about it?” Zayn asks softly, brushing his fingers through her hair. At his voice she wails again and crawls into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and shoving her face into his tee shirt covered chest. He and Liam exchange a worried glance over her head.

Layla only shakes her head, rubbing her nose into Zayn’s tee. It would make him laugh if he wasn’t so worried about why she is so upset.

“Please?” Liam prompts. “Can you just tell us what happened in the dream?”

“I was at school,” Layla speaks into Zayn’s chest. She settles herself on his lap and rests her cheek on his left pectoral muscle. She looks up at her Daddy who is watching her with a soft smile. When she looks up, she sees her Baba looking at her with the same smile and she lets out a deep breath. “I was at school playing in the playground. I was waiting for Baba to come get me and he didn’t come.”

Zayn fights not to make a noise. He doesn’t want to worry her with how angry he is at himself for being late. Had he not been late, none of what happened this afternoon would have been an issue.

“What happened then, Lays?” Liam prompts gently.

Layla shrugs. “It just got super dark and no one came. I was in the playground by myself and it was so dark and I was so alone. I was shouting but no one could hear me.”

“I’m sorry I was late today, princess.” Zayn apologizes as he presses a kiss to the crown of her head.

“That’s okay, Babe. I know you didn’t mean to be. I just got scared.”

“And that’s okay,” he responds. “That you got scared. But I will never not come get you. I will never leave you there scared or alone.”

“Okay.”

Liam knows that he shouldn’t offer what he’s about to suggest, but he can’t not. He will make it up to Zayn any way that his husband wants but before he can second guess himself he is speaking.

“Babe, do you want to come away with your Baba and I?” Liam is right when he sees Zayn’s eyes bugging out. Clearly theyre going to have to come up with different activities to do on their weekend, but he thinks that having her there and them all bonding again is a great idea.

He appears to be the only one that feels like this.

“Why?” Layla asks, her nose wrinkled.

“So you can spend time with us?”

“But what about Lou-Bear and Uncle Hazza? I have plans with them. IMPORTANT plans! I can’t come with you guys.”

“Well, I just thought..” Liam’s cheeks are pink and he sees Zayn trying to hold in his laughter.

“Oh Daddy,” Layla says with a sigh. She curls herself back up into Zayn’s embrace and tightens her hold on him. “I don’t want to come with you guys. That’ll be boring. I want to do cool stuff. I want to see Lou and Hazza.”

“Yeah, DUH, Daddy.” Zayn teases. Within minutes Layla is asleep again and both men decide to let her sleep in their bed with them. “I can’t believe you invited her!”

Liam ducks his head as he shrugs. “I don’t know, I thought maybe you’d want some time with her. That we could do family stuff.”

“I mean, if she wanted to yeah. But … I just really want to spend some time with just us. We’ll plan something big for when the adoption goes through.”  
Its been the course of a day, but Zayn and Liam both feel they’ve gone through a milestone event. They’ve seen the worst of mankind and came through it stronger, victorious.

FINIS


End file.
